International Monetary Fund

The IMF, also known as the Fund, was conceived at a UN conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, in July 1944. The 44 countries at that conference sought to build a framework for economic cooperation to avoid a repetition of the competitive devaluations that had contributed to the Great Depression of the 1930s.

The IMF's responsibilities: The IMF's primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries (and their citizens) to transact with each other. The Fund's mandate was updated in 2012 to include all macroeconomic and financial sector issues that bear on global stability.

Fast Facts

Membership: 189 countries
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Executive Board: 24 Directors each representing a single country or a group of countries
Staff: Approximately 2,700 from 148 countries
Total quotas: US$668 billion (as of 9/13/16)
Additional pledged or committed resources: US$ 668 billion
Committed amounts under current lending arrangements (as of 9/8/16):US$159 billion, of which US$144 billion have not been drawn
Biggest borrowers (amounts outstanding as of 8/31/16): Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, Pakistan
Biggest precautionary loans (amount agreed as of 9/8/16): Mexico, Poland, Colombia, Morocco
Surveillance consultations: 130 consultations in 2013 and 132 in 2014, and 124 in 2015
Capacity development: 274 person years in FY2013, 285 in FY2014, and 288 in FY2015

Original aims:

promote international monetary cooperation;
facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade;
promote exchange stability;
assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments; and
make resources available (with adequate safeguards) to members experiencing balance of payments difficulties.

International Monetary Fund